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ncvqk · 1 month ago

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Benched | Alex Cabot x Casey Novak

Casey faints at the batting cage. Alex panics. There’s urgent care, tears, IVs, attempted soup arson, and cuddles. consider this my formal apology for yams. too tired to edit. fluff. lots of it. mention of needles and iv's 2.3k wc

“Come on, it’s not that hot,” Casey said, rolling her shoulders as she stepped up to the plate again. Her cheeks were flushed, hair frizzing beneath the helmet, and she looked determined, which, Alex knew, was Casey’s default setting, even on a Saturday.

Alex sat primly on the bench, legs crossed at the ankle, sunglasses fixed in place, and a book in one hand. She looked entirely unbothered, like someone who had not been dragged to a dusty batting cage on her only free afternoon. “You say that like you’re not about to pass out in front of suburban dads and ten-year-olds.”

Casey swung and missed. Then again. Then—thwack. A clean hit that cracked into the chain-link fence.

“There’s the overachiever I know and put up with,” Alex said, sipping her drink.

“I’m relaxing,” Casey shot back, panting slightly. “This is cathartic.”

“You prosecute creeps more gently than you treat that ball.”

But Casey didn’t answer. She stayed still after her next swing, bat slipping from her fingers. Her knees wobbled.

Alex was standing before she even realized she’d moved.

“Casey?”

Then Casey slumped to the ground.

Alex was through the gate in seconds, her stride purposeful despite the uneven turf and the useless wedge sandals she’d insisted on wearing. A teenage staffer reached out to help, but Alex brushed past him with a lawyer’s practiced authority.

“Move,” she said calmly. “I’ve got her.”

She knelt beside Casey, immediately checking her pulse, her voice steady despite the panic crawling up her spine. “Casey, hey. Talk to me.”

Casey groaned, eyes fluttering open. “M’fine.”

“No, you’re not.” Alex’s tone was firm but measured. “You just passed out mid-swing like a melodramatic heroine.”

“I didn’t faint.”

“You did. And we’re not arguing about it.” She adjusted Casey’s head onto her knee and glanced at the staffer. “Get water. Cold. Please.”

Casey squinted at her through bleary eyes. “Don’t yell.”

“I’m not yelling,” Alex said, already helping her sit up slowly. “You’re hearing the sound of barely restrained panic in an extremely competent tone.”

The kid brought a bottle of water. Alex held it to Casey’s lips with one hand and dialed her phone with the other.

Casey caught sight of the screen. “No ambulances. Alex, no.”

“Yes ambulances,” Alex said coolly.

“No! They’ll charge me six hundred dollars to sit in traffic and I’ll end up in the ER with some intern who thinks I’m hungover.”

Alex paused. Calculated. She weighed her options like she would a plea deal. “Urgent care,” she decided. “But I’m driving.”

“Against my will?”

“You fainted. You don’t get a vote.”

“You’re kidnapping me.”

“I’ll get off with probation,” Alex muttered, already looping Casey’s arm around her shoulder.

Alex helped Casey through the sliding doors of urgent care, her grip steady, her expression composed. The air conditioning hit them like a wall, and Casey immediately sagged against her.

“Try not to smack your face on the tile,” Alex murmured gently. “I don’t think your dignity could survive two concussions in one day.”

Casey managed a weak glare.

Alex sat her down in the waiting area before approaching the front desk.

“Hi, good afternoon,” she said warmly to the receptionist. “Novak, Casey. She fainted at the batting cages. She’s conscious, but dizzy, lightheaded, and pale.”

Casey made a strangled noise. “Don’t say pale.”

“You are,” Alex replied sweetly, “but in a very charming way.”

The receptionist glanced at Casey, who gave her a miserable little wave from where she was slumped against the chair.

“We’ll get her checked in right away,” the woman said, handing over a clipboard. “Just fill this out.”

“I can take care of that,” Alex offered smoothly. “She’s not in any condition to write her name right now.”

“Still standing right here,” Casey mumbled, eyes closed.

Within twenty minutes, they were in a small exam room. Casey sat on the edge of the bed, looking like she was trying to disappear into the wall. Alex sat in the visitor’s chair beside her, legs crossed neatly, reading a pamphlet titled Hydration and You like it was a Supreme Court brief. “It says here that coffee is not a hydrating beverage.”

“I’ll sue,” Casey muttered.

“You’ll lose. Science is against you.”

Casey groaned. “Don’t joke. I’m dying.”

“You’re not dying. You’re dehydrated.”

“Same thing.”

There was a soft knock, and the nurse entered. “Alright, Ms. Novak, your blood pressure’s a little low, and your heart rate’s up, which tells me you’re still pretty dehydrated. We’re going to start you on some IV fluids, okay?”

Casey stiffened. “IV?”

The nurse smiled kindly. “It’ll just be a little needle. We’ll put the line in your arm, and it’ll take about thirty minutes.”

“Wait. Wait, no.”

“Just a small IV in your arm. It won’t take long at all—”

“No, no, no, no, no.” Casey’s voice cracked. “Alex, I can’t—” She started shaking her head, eyes wide, panic flooding her face. “Needles—I can’t—no. No. Can’t you just give me, like, Gatorade?”

Alex stood and stepped in gently, putting herself between Casey and the nurse. “You sued the U.S. military. You can handle this.”

“Alex.”

Her voice was small now. Embarrassed. Her eyes were glassy.

Alex sat beside her on the table, slipping her arm around her waist. “Hey. Look at me.”

Casey did. Just barely.

“Breathe. You’re okay.”

“I hate this.”

“I know.” Alex kissed her temple, voice low and steady. “But you’re braver than you think.”

“I’m not just scared, I’m—I’m terrified.” Her hands trembled, and tears filled her eyes, slipping down her cheeks.

Alex’s heart cracked. She cupped Casey’s face and brushed her thumbs gently under her eyes. “I know. But you fainted, sweetheart. You need fluids.”

Casey sniffled. “Will you hold my hand?”

Alex stood and pressed the call button. “Always.”

The nurse returned moments later with practiced grace. “We’ll make this quick,” she promised.

Casey whimpered as the nurse prepped her arm. “Talk to me. Talk about anything.”

“Did I ever tell you about the time I accidentally set off the courthouse metal detector because I had a fork in my purse?”

Casey let out a wet, hiccuped laugh. “A fork?”

“Leftover cake. It was strategic.”

“Of course it was.”

The needle went in. Casey squeezed her eyes shut, gripping Alex’s hand like a lifeline, a tear sliding down her cheek, but it was done before she even noticed.

“All finished,” the nurse said, securing the line with tape. “You did great.”

Casey sagged against Alex, still sniffling. “I did not.”

“You absolutely did,” Alex murmured into her hair. “You were brilliant.”

“Did you really bring a fork to court?”

“With intent,” Alex said gravely.

Casey let out a soft, exhausted laugh.

Alex kissed her hair again and tightened her hold. “Next time, we’re going to the bookstore.”

By the time they got home, Casey was groggy but stable, her color returning and a blanket draped over her shoulders like a cape. Alex had insisted.

“Stop looking at me like I’m a ghost bride,” Casey grumbled as she flopped onto the couch.

“You passed out in public and cried over a needle. You’re getting pampered whether you like it or not,” Alex said, brushing a kiss to her forehead. “Blanket stays.”

“Fine. But I draw the line at hot water bottles. I’m not a reptile.”

“Noted,” Alex called from the kitchen, already rifling through the pantry. “Now. Sit back, relax, and let your competent, nurturing wife handle dinner.”

There was a long pause.

“You’ve never cooked a day in your life,” Casey said warily.

“I have. I just choose not to.”

“You tried to make toast once and set off the smoke alarm.”

Alex sounded very dignified. “It was an old toaster.”

“You tried to microwave pasta with the water already drained.”

“That was an experiment.”

“Alex.”

“I’m making soup,” Alex declared. “You can’t ruin soup.”

This, of course, was a lie.

Within minutes, chaos was quietly erupting in the kitchen. Alex had put a pot on the stove and dumped in a can of tomato soup without reading the part about adding water. Then she added garlic. And pepper. And half a bottle of basil because, as she whispered to herself, “that’s what chefs on TV do.”

Casey stayed curled on the couch, listening to the clinking of metal and muttered curses.

Then the inevitable:

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

The smoke alarm screamed to life.

Casey didn’t even flinch. “So... what stage of the culinary process are we in now?”

“There is... a small issue,” Alex said as calmly as possible, waving a towel at the ceiling.

“You started a fire, didn’t you?”

“It’s contained.”

“You burned canned soup.”

“I enhanced it.”

Casey dragged herself off the couch and wandered into the kitchen, still wrapped in her blanket. She stared at the pot, which was bubbling with thick, violently red sludge.

“Alex.”

Alex looked at her, helpless. “I wanted to take care of you.”

Casey’s heart squeezed in her chest. “You’re a disaster.”

“I know.”

“But you’re my disaster.” She reached up and smudged some tomato off Alex’s cheek. “Let’s order takeout before you burn the building down.”

Alex sagged in relief. “Bless you. Chinese?”

“Obviously.”

They ended up curled on the couch twenty minutes later with lo mein and soup that didn’t require a fire extinguisher. Casey had her head on Alex’s lap, the blanket still wrapped around her. Alex carded gentle fingers through her hair as they watched some nature documentary narrated by someone very British.

“Hey,” Casey murmured. “Thank you. For today.”

Alex looked down at her. “For dragging you to urgent care?”

“For holding my hand. For kissing my forehead. For ordering me egg rolls instead of feeding me spicy tomato cement.”

Alex smirked. “It had potential.”

Casey yawned. “You’re lucky you’re pretty.”

“And you're lucky you're dramatic enough to keep life interesting.”

“Mm. Let’s go to bed.”

“Will you faint on the way there?”

“Only if it gets me out of washing the dishes.”

By the time the dishes were ignored and the leftovers safely stashed, Casey was already half-asleep on the bathroom counter with a toothbrush dangling from her mouth. Alex leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, watching her with the fond exasperation of someone deeply in love with a woman who could argue down a judge but couldn't stay awake for a full hygiene routine.

“You’re foaming at the mouth like a rabid raccoon,” Alex said softly.

Casey pointed at her with her toothbrush.

“You love this raccoon.”

“Tragically, I do.”

Casey made a pitiful whining noise and swayed forward a little too dramatically, nearly bonking her head on the mirror. Alex caught her just in time, steadying her with a hand on her back.

“Okay, come here,” Alex murmured, easing her upright.

She plucked the toothbrush from Casey’s hand with practiced efficiency, dabbed a bit more toothpaste on it, and turned the water back on.

“You’re not brushing, you’re just… foaming and dozing. This is a liability.”

“I’m very tired,” Casey slurred, leaning heavily on her shoulder. “You have no idea.”

Alex smirked and gently tapped the toothbrush against her lips. “Open.”

“You’re brushing my teeth? What am I, five?”

“Yes. Five, dramatic, and currently a biohazard.”

Despite her protests, Casey parted her lips with a tiny huff, letting Alex guide the toothbrush across her teeth in slow, careful strokes.

“Wow,” Casey mumbled around the bristles, “You’re very gentle. Did you miss your calling as a hygienist?”

“I’m adding it to the list,” Alex said. “Right between ‘terrible cook’ and ‘expert wife.’ Spit.”

Casey did, then leaned her cheek against Alex’s shoulder, eyes fluttering shut again.

“Okay,” Alex whispered, guiding her toward the door. “Bedtime.”

Eventually, after much blanket arranging and flopping and one brief moment of panic when Casey realized she left her phone charging in the kitchen, they settled under the covers. The lights were low, the room quiet except for the soft hum of the street outside and the occasional creak of the old building.

Alex lay on her back, one arm tucked behind her head, the other curled protectively around Casey, who had wasted no time sprawling half on top of her.

Casey rested her cheek against Alex’s chest, fingers lazily tracing little patterns on the fabric of her top. “I was really scared today,” she said quietly.

Alex kissed the top of her head. “I know.”

“Like, really scared. I hate that it got to me so much.”

“It’s not weakness,” Alex said gently. “Fear isn’t a flaw. It’s just… real.”

“I cried in front of a nurse.”

“You also made some good hits before fainting. It balances out.”

Casey laughed softly. “You really were going to call an ambulance, weren’t you?”

“You hit the ground like a sack of potatoes and then tried to argue with me about consciousness. Yes, I was going to call an ambulance.”

Casey looked up at her, eyes warm. “I love you.”

She reached down and brushed her thumb over Casey’s cheek. “I love you too.”

“Even when I’m dehydrated and sobbing?”

“Especially then.”

Casey leaned up and pressed a slow kiss to the corner of Alex’s mouth. “You’re the only person I’d faint in front of twice.”

Alex smiled against her lips. “If you do, I’m buying you a CamelBak and taping electrolyte packets to your blazer.”

They kissed again—soft and slow and sleepy.

Then Casey burrowed back into her side with a yawn. “If I die in my sleep, tell the nurse she was very nice.”

“She was.”

“And that I want to be buried with egg rolls.”

Alex ran her fingers through Casey’s hair, a quiet, rhythmic motion. “Noted.”

A few minutes passed in silence.

“You know,” Casey murmured, voice drifting, “you’re actually kind of good at this.”

“At what?”

“This. Comfort. Caretaking. Love stuff.”

Alex looked down, a little stunned. “You think?”

“I know. Even if your soup skills are a crime against humanity.”

Alex huffed. “Go to sleep.”

“Make me.”

So Alex did by holding her closer, tucking them together beneath the covers, and pressing one last kiss to her forehead.

#calex #casey novak #alex cabot #law and order svu #law and order special victims unit #svu #fluff #call your dentist #wrote this at 1 am with a migraine #didn't read through it #hoping for the best #yes i know its a lot of dialogue

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nhescio · 1 year ago

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Okay I have a visceral need for a hannigram time travel fic but instead of the typical Will or Hannibal fix-it, the person that time travels back is none other than Frederick fucking Chilton. Like imagine Chilton wallowing around all crispy and stuff after being human torched wondering what he’s done to deserve everything he’s been through. And when he’s finally okay enough to be discharged from the hospital to go home, an anvil falls on him or smth. And as he’s lying there incredulously, he’s like, yknow what? Im not even upset about this. I think Ive suffered enough near death experiences. Please just let this one put me out of my misery. And as his eyes finally drift shut, he hears an alarm blaring in his face. An alarm from his phone. His phone which, when he goes to shut it off, displays an impossible sequence of numbers— the plastic screen shinning with a date from four years past.

So after freaking out and confirming that he is indeed in the past, (and weeping in joy over his unmutilated body) Frederick does the obvious— he packs his bags, pays a visit to the bank, and gets on the next available flight out of the country.

And then his plane crashes and he dies.

But of course he doesn’t die because that seems to be a common theme in Frederick Chilton’s life!

So he’s jolting out of bed again to that same alarm and he tries not to tear his own face off (not that he would ever actually do that cause he knows how easily he could lose that precious face). And (after a few more tries) since this time loop bs isn’t letting him run away, he does the next best thing— phoning the FBI with a tip so that they would investigate Hannibal Lecter and put him behind bars for good. But of course Hannibal somehow finds out and discretely shakes the FBI off his trail while simultaneously sending one of his murderer protégés after Frederick. And so not even a month passes by before Frederick finds himself dying and waking to that infuriating alarm again.

And he keeps going through different loops trying to avoid being “murder tableau of the week”, but failing miserably every time. After dying for what feels like an infinite number of times, he’s realized two main consistencies. Number one, he can’t personally expose Hannibal Lecter as the ripper if he doesn’t want to be gutted, and two, the sooner Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter begin their weird courtship, whether from Frederick’s deliberate meddling or from ripples of unrelated actions, somehow he’s left with much less blood and chaos in the aftermath. In one incredible timeline, Frederick even managed to only sustain one life threatening disembowelment for three years before accidentally making a rude comment about Will Graham’s lack of a social life, thereby leading to a cold death in the Atlantic.

After this revelation, he vows to get Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter to bang each other as soon as possible for the sake of his own self preservation— going through elaborate plans like befriending and recruiting the FBI’s forensics team, or snapping Jack Crawford out of his obliviousness so he’d bluntly give them a nudge, or even once flirting with Will Graham himself to get Hannibal Lecter jealous (note: that attempt did NOT end up well).

And one day, after a shocked text from his “Sassy Science Matchmaking Squad” group chat proclaiming that Hannibal and Will, lovingly dubbed Hannigram by the group, had spontaneously quit their jobs and run away to Europe together, Frederick suddenly realizes he hasn’t been stabbed or burned or maimed or drowned or disemboweled once! He thinks back to his early success in this timeline— silently high fiving with Beverly and Jimmy (Zeller, the spoilsport, had refused to partake) while voyeuristically watching Will and Hannibal shyly having their first kiss in the shadows of a filthy crime scene. In fact, he didn’t think anyone in their immediate circle had been stabbed or burned or maimed or drowned or— well you get the point.

And as one year turns to two to four to eight with no word from Hannibal or Will except the occasional postcard, a sort of cautious optimism starts building in Frederick’s heart. The years continue to fly by until one day, Frederick finds that his hair has turned a snowy white, and that his legs are too weak to support his aching body. He tries to take in a breath to laugh but it comes out as a wheeze. He’s at the end of the line once more, but this time at the end of a healthy, fulfilling life. His only wish is that he’s finally allowed to move on. And as he feels his life slowly drifting away from him, Frederick wonders if he’s accomplished whatever divine mission that godforsaken time loop had wanted him to complete. It really feels like he did the best he could this life, preventing every possible death on the East Coast by sending Hannibal and Will packing early. Sure, he feels bad for the poor suckers in Florence or Paris that were probably flambéed for a pretentiously fancy brunch, but realistically, those two would always leave a body count no matter where they went.

All Frederick wants now is to pass in peace. With a heavy sigh, Frederick willingly closes his eyes one last time, content to move on into whatever lies in the beyond.

And he dies. For real this time. Woohoo!

The End

#hannibal #hannigram #hannibal lecter #will graham #frederick chilton #crack pseudo-fic??#i dont know what possessed me to write this #i havent slept for 27 hours #nheswrites

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iminyourwallsbabe · 5 months ago

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Arcane characters as different types of kpop enjoyers

Not stans, you'll see later.

Jinx- Hardcore noise music girlie. The more obnoxious the better. If the beat makes you audibly go "what the fuck is going on", she's eating that up. That's groups like Stray Kids, Ateez, NCT (don't ask which one, the answer is all of them), etc. She also likes G-Idle because Isha fucking loved Queencard and Wife and has since put those songs on Sevika's arm, much to her annoyance. It's grown on her though, since Isha quit being a trainee at Breathing entertainment (GET IT BECAUSE SHE'S-)

Vi- I don't think she'd like any particular group, if she comes across some kpop and it sounds good to her then it's whatever. She's shown some consistent interest in BTS' earlier music (so from like 2 Kool 4 Skool to The Most Beautiful Moment in Life). She doesn't understand the obsession some people have with it but she respects it to some extent. However some people think she's a huge kpop stan because she keeps going out to buy albums for Jinx. She used to just steal them but then she decided to date a COP and now she has to "obey the law" or whatever. Kinda cringe.

Caitlyn- Christian horse girl music. For the uninitiated, this is an unofficial sub genre of kpop. It's literally just the most squeaky clean, probably heard it in a kdrama type songs. So GFriend, Berry Good, Lovelyz, a little bit of Loona, April, Apink, WJSN. No this is not all she's ever been allowed to listen to, she acquired this taste herself. She's a basic bitch at heart and we love her for that ♥️

Jayce- Caitlyn may be basic, but this man is BASIC basic. knows two BTS songs and it's Dynamite and Butter. But good news! He's not completely out of the loop. He knows about the Butter remix with Megan Thee Stallion. He also liked Neva Play by Megan Thee Stallion, RM just happens to be on that song. And he listened to the Mamushi remix featuring Twice. Mamushi, by Megan Thee Stallion. Are we seeing a trend here, perchance? Anyway, besides that, remember when Jungkook was popping off in the states for his solo stuff back in 2023? He was into that too. In fact he still consistently listens to the Golden album. At some point he wanted to get into New Jeans but then he googled how old they were and said FFFFFFUCK NO. (Go ahead, look up how old they were when they debuted. Also, on that note, FUCK HYBE, WE'RE BOYCOTTING THEIR ASSES- or at least we were supposed to for the past year because they can't help but hire Zionist weirdos but people didn't get the memo till they fully fucked over New Jeans so)

Anyway, on with the post!

Viktor- He is all the way a Red Velvet stan. Their music is just calm enough to where he doesn't find it distracting and just hype enough for him not to find it boring. He's the type of guy who puts on music to hear it, not to forget it's playing. He usually keeps songs like Bad Boy, Feel My Rhythm, and Psycho in rotation. That's really all the kpop he listens to but he loves Aespa's aesthetics and lore. Does he understand what's going on? Vaguely. He doesn't have the time to do a deep dive but he knows enough to think it's cool. Jayce does too, mostly because of Viktor.

Heimerdinger- He's a Once, next question.

Mel- I'm not too sure how to categorize this, all I'm gonna say is that her taste matches her tax bracket. She's listening to Kiss of Life, IVE, Le Sserafim, Mamamoo, Chungha, and she's fully caught up on the scandals. She could tell you who Hyuna's married to and why that's a problem, she knows who shat on the floor at that one award show, why Jimin and Jeongyeon had beef, she can explain kpop pipelines you didn't know existed. Jayce will listen to all of this very intently even though he has no idea who the fuck these people are. Like at all. He's lost. She knows he doesn't really understand but she appreciates that he gives her the time of day. She's also the type of person to decorate her photocards, all the decorations are gold.

Ekko- He likes a lot of the same groups Jinx does but in a different way. The way she likes their insane, loud songs, he likes the ones that are a little more chill. But sometimes when he misses her, he'll play the songs she likes. So, that being said, it's entirely possible that he cried his eyes out to fucking Sticker by NCT 127 (I think? Idk I be forgetting). Like from the other room you'd hear some weird ass recorder noises and violent sobbing. Besides that, he also enjoys really obscure groups. He's the nugu king. Some of the artists on his Spotify wrapped have like 10,000 streams combined. Where did he find this? Nobody knows. He also likes K/DA and his bias is Akali. That makes more sense when you remember True Damage exists

#arcane #arcane spoilers #kpop #bts #nct #megan thee stallion #please laugh #timebomb #ekko arcane #jinx arcane #mel arcane #arcane jayce #viktor arcane #sevika arcane #isha arcane #girl group #boy group #christian horse girl music #true damage

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miiilowo · 8 months ago

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long post but ive got a story to tell. i do think the funniest/most insane Scary Thing that happened to me was at my parents friends house. me n my brother were friends with Their kids, so we'd come over and stay a couple days to a week every so often. normally, they'd Tell the kids when we were coming, but we wanted to surprise them in the morning. so, my parents went inside, and me, my brother, and their oldest sister all decided to hang outside for a bit. cause yknow. adults tend to have more volume control than kids. harder to alert the littles to our Presence that way

it was a big sorta farmhouse property. nice 2 story building on top of a hill, crops on one side, field behind and on the side. there was a very very VEEEEERRRRYYY steep incline that led to their barn, which you could technically crawl up/down if you tried real hard, but usually you'd just walk down the gravel road that looped around to it. next to the top of this incline was the top of the Overall Hill, a trampoline, and the house. secluded area. generally pretty nice.

all 3 of us were sitting on the trampoline hanging out, waiting for our cue to come inside. it was probably around 10 pm, so not super late, but late enough to be dark. arranged in a Triangle Formation. I was facing the slope that led down to the barn, and my brother and the eldest sister were both facing me. had a steady conversation going. i look out toward the incline and immediately stop talking. because there was . well. a fucking ghost. there was a floating white wispy Thing floating just beyond the edge of the hill, with a single glowing red eye. bobbing in the wind. after i Sort Of understand what im looking at, i start screaming my heart out, and the other two have no idea what the hell my problem is since they aren't facing that direction. so my brother turns. he sees it. he starts screaming. their sister turns. she sees it. SHE starts screaming. after a few seconds she goes "WHY ARE WE SITTING HERE? GO! GO!" and we all scramble inside, leave our shoes by the trampoline, damage our feet on the gravel, so on so forth in the panic

all three of us were absolutely hysterical. so hysterical, in fact, that the adults had grabbed their guns because they genuinely thought we were like. Being Murdered. they eventually managed to calm us down enough to explain what happened, and they immediately got suspicious when we said it was a ghost, but yknow. obviously we had to have seen Something with how freaked out we were. so they go outside to investigate!

our "ghost" was the kid's uncle. he knew we'd be out there, so he had laid down flat on the side of that incline so we couldnt see him, attached an old ratty tshirt to a couple of tied-together wires, and fastened a red flashlight to it. let it sway in the wind. he thought it was hilarious. nobody else thought it was hilarious. every single time i came over past that point i made it my Mission to try and scare him back, but I never once succeeded. They've moved since then, and I don't think I'll ever see them again. The fact that i couldn't seek revenge on that old man will haunt me on my deathbed. It will keep me writhing in my grave

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eee-isat-au-blog · 2 months ago

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yo guys its me

the tuse

ive come to make an announcement

encore et encore, as it is now, is more than likely cancelled*

now now calm down dont worry this is fine actually

the problem with this au is that it boils down to "ISAT but with x minor changes"

as of yet, these changes have not really, well, changed anything, ive spent 2 of the first 3 chapters just re writing isat act 1, instead of focusing on the distinctions

below the cut is the full planned story, and i shall be making art/writing of the different, important parts (indicated with *). if you want to be surprised for that, thats understandable, just dont click the cut

i do wanna thank all yall who liked this lil thing, and i assure you, this is for the best, no one wants to wait 4 more months for another retread of a chapter, right?

Ahem:

Act 1

Chapter 1: Terminal Velocity (Loop/Deloop Intro) *

You've seen this before.

Chapter 2: Hour Time Together (Dormont Day)

You've. seen this. before.

Chapter 3: Earth’s Beating Heart (Dinner - Rock)

You've. seen. this. before.

Act 2

Chapter 4: Um, What The Stars? (Loops Intro) *

EEE Siffrin (hereafter refered to as just Siffrin) meets Loop and Deloop, who explain the loops, bickering a bit amongst themselves.

Chapter 5: Night’s Fall (Floor 1)

Floor One, the final loop after making all the mistakes.

Chapter 6: In The Middle (Floor 2)

Floor Two, the final loop after making all the mistakes.

Chapter 7: Vaugarde’s Vanguard (Floor 3)

Floor Three, the final loop after making all the mistakes.

Chapter 8: Eventuality Horizon (King Loss)

The party faces and fails against the king in one hit.

Chapter 9: Regicide By Side (King Win)

The party recoups and defeats the king.

Chapter 10: Synchronistic Soliloquies (Loop Deloop Town) *

Loop and Deloop spend some time walking around Dormont as the King is being fought, the townsfolk are accepting of their presence. the two don't know how to feel about that.

Chapter 11: Euphobia (Euphrasie 1)

The play starts again.

ACT 3

Chapter 12: Love Withstands (Friend Quests)

Siffrin goes through the friend quests.

Chapter 13: Even Now (FQ House)

The family goes through the house.

Chapter 14: All For What? What For All? (Euphrasie 2)

The play starts again.

Chapter 15: Deicide By Side (King Quest Pt1)

Siffrin learns of The King's past and attempts to reason with him.

Chapter 16: Shadow Of The Sun (King Quest Pt2) *

...The King concedes. He gives up on his wish and crushes his crown in his fist, he does not deserve the name anymore. Siffrin feels a tug on their stomach. Cut to The Universe.

INTERMISSION

Planned to be a series of asks to The Universe directly (with 17 and 18 being the start and ending), wingmanning It to get out of Its "project" and hang out with The Change God, who It seems to have some feelings for.

Chapter 17: Word of Mouth, Word of God

Introduction to The Universe outside of Its duty, shows Change God inviting It to the regular "God Meetings", with It turning them down. Change God makes a little teasing comment about how much she'd like to see It. It doesn't know how It feels.

Chapter 18: Endless Ending

The Universe has a full on talk with Change God, who had been nicknamed Gigi between chapters in the ask section. It explains that It feels bound to Its duty, to Its wish, as It caused this to happen, this is Its mess to clean up, and Its alone. Gigi says that he'd be happy to help It with Its work, it clearly needs the break. The Universe thinks on this. It mentions how this whole time, every loop has been Siffrins naming Siffrins. Siffrin named himself, Loop named themself, Loop nicknamed Siffrin "Stardust". Meanwhile, It is just. A title. A being to carry a burden. Gigi thinks for a moment, and nicknames them Eve Ruins (anagram of Universe). A gift from her to It. (YURI!!!!)

ACT 4

Chapter 19: Change Of Plans (LoopQuest) *

Loop and Deloop are BEYOND pissed that the King turned nice, but they can't exactly place their finger on why. They (figuratively) grit their teeth as they invite Siffrin to a loop in the tree, to see what makes him tick. To see how they'd react to... the moment.

Chapter 20: After Before (Wish Craft Info)

Siffrin storms off from the two and starts learning about wish craft, planning on telling it to Euphrasie.

Chapter 21: Nigh Infinitum (Euphrasie 3)

The Play. Starts. Again.

ACT 5

Chapter 22: On The Brink Of Teetering (Sif & Loops argue) *

Siffrin confronts the Loop duo and says they don't care about him, they never did, they've done nothing but heckle him. He storms off to go do the friendquests and kingquest, because he wants to spend time with his REAL family. The two bicker about themselves after he leaves, exclaiming that the other is trying to live through him, and that they never should've done this again, they knew they both couldn't handle it. A dark cloaked figure appears to the two of them.

Chapter 23: Now, Even (Sif FQ & KQ) *

Siffrin does the quests, and when they reach Euphrasie with the former king, he lets out a sigh. He explains how much he cares about them all, and how he hopes they can continue traveling together after this is over. Somewhere, a tug snaps.

Chapter 24: LoopDeLoop (Déjà Vu/C'est La Vie Fight) *

The Universe speaks to the two loops, explaining Its distaste for their failure to do the job they volunteered for.

"You chose this. You chose to help the traveler, and yet you both are awful at it. You heard what he said. He doesn’t need you. You don’t need each other. You don’t even need yourself. You toy with him, play with him. And shirk responsibility. I’m starting to think you both chose to help to relive your old lives, with your old family. But that will never happen. You are very different."

The figure finally looks up, revealing It to actually be Mal du Pays.

"Siffrin is loved."

Cracking under the pressure, the two give into their emotions and become a gigantic form of sadness and wishcraft, the dual stars.

Déjà Vu and C'est La Vie.

The party rushes over to the now destroyed Favor Tree to see the hulking beast. They cry and cry, their tears forming sadnesses in the form of the party.

♦Réticence♦

♥Lâcheté♥

♠Aliénation♠

♣Inutilité♣

and finally

★Mal Du Pays★

Chapter 25: You Could Cut The Tension With A Knife (Make Amends) *

The party, former king, and head housemaiden all attempt to speak to the Wish-Made-Sadness, but they are inconsolable. Until siffrin speaks up.

"...I know you're clearly hurting, it must be why you've been so standoffish this whole time. You both are clearly bearing a burden of a secret, one I KNOW you want to let spill.

Tell us who you are."

The two continue to deny, before eventually admiting their true selves, and that they were just there to try and live through Siffrin. As the form shrinks and shrinks onto the stump of the Favor Tree, they let out sobs and apologies. Siffrin walks up to them. and gives them a hug. He forgives them.

ACT 6

Each episode focuses on a new* character not in the party.

Chapter 26: Finally Finality (Post Story) *

Everyone settles down, the moment of fear passes, and they start thinking about what happens next. The Loops are insistant they leave, to not try and manipulate Siffrin again, but he encourages they stay, to get through this together.

Chapter 27: Overbearing (Petronille) *

Petronille is hesitant to the Loops. But on Siffrin's word, they start to warm up to her.

Chapter 28: Landromeda (Roy) *

King finally picks out a new name and identity for himself, Roy. Some are still hesitant.

Chapter 29: Listening and Silenting (Howie) *

The Siffrins have therapy sessions.

Chapter 30: One And (Non) Only (PPC Fight Start) *

A crash in the meadow. Something has fallen from the sky. Everyone gathers around it. A singular orb rises up from the crater, forming a hat and cloak from itself. it raises its head, revealing one eye, where Siffrin's would be. And then another. This is Porter Plusieurs Chapeaux. Or as they are more commonly refered to as, Comicfrin. They demand to see Siffrin and the Loops (who are currently in a session with Howie), shouting nonsense about how "this line of understudies shall go no further", that they are "ending the universe's faults here and now". Siffrin and the Loops approach the meadow and are immidietly charged by Porter, but something blocks their attack. No, someONE.

Eve Ruins looks back at the 3 Siffrins and the others. It explains that this is the remnants of what It once was. While Eve was the first Siffrin, Porter was the second. And in all that time, they were never able to break their own loops, an understudy trapped in a repetitive script. Porter slams their foot on the ground and hands erupt from starlike and starlight cracks in the world. The Siffrins left to rot.

One goes for Bonnie, Roy without hesitation takes the hit. Eve looks back at him with a look of... sorrow, and apology. Then both of them tell Petronille and Howie to evacuate Dormont, including Bonnie. Eve gives another look, and Roy rounds up the rest of the party and helps evacuate.

Now, its just Siffrin left here. 5 of a kind.

Chapter 31: Wearing Many Hats (PPC Fight End) *

With assist by the askers, who are revealed to be the people who escaped the loops and are living on the island, Porter is subdued by Siffrin and the Loops. As they're holding them down, Eve walks up to them. and apologizes. truly, sincerely, apologizes.

"i know what you are feeling. i dont know how you managed to stay stagnant so long, but it doesnt matter. i messed up my duty, and you are suffering for it. and for that i am truly sorry. you need not forgive me. but i just wanted to say it."

Porter writhes in their grip, furious that It would dare disrespect them like that. They scream in fury that the only justice It could do would be to have every Siffrin die, to free them from the wretched cycle It cast upon them.

Eve sighs. It places Its hand on Porter's form. It whispers once, twice, three times, and as Porter shrinks in Its closing hands, It opens them back up, and sets them free, as nothing left but stardust.

Siffrin is concerned, considering The Universe is here and it just killed another version of him, but It assures them that It knows what they wanted. If they wanted death, then they are dead. If they wanted freedom, then they are free. The hands retract from the cracks in reality as Eve begins to disappear. It apologizes to the 3, saying that this system It has forced Itself to make clearly cannot sustain. It will soon attempt to fix everything, with a little help.

Siffrin, Loop, and Deloop are speechless. They return to the others, confused.

Ok so i know the endings a little iffy but its being workshopped, but all in all, thats it, thats the story of Encore Et Encore.

I hope yall enjoyed it, even though the presentation wasn't the best

this account will live on, with art, writing, and asks relating to the new things of the au, and i hope to see you there!

oh also i designed entirely new sadnesses for this au so get ready for those coming soon maybe at some point probably

also, fun fact, the chapters spell out THE UNIVERSE LEADS WE CAN ONLY FOLLOW

#encore et encore #in stars and time #in stars and time au #isat spoilers #isat siffrin #isat loop #isat the universe #eee siffrin #eee deloop #eee loop #eee eve ruins

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devondespresso · 11 months ago

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Wiggy Wednesday🧠🪱 - A Robin (Buckley) Hood au

tagged by @just-my-latest-hyperfixation @shares-a-vest and @hotluncheddie Thanks guys!!! 💕🫂💝

continue-the-game tags at the bottom, you guys absolutely don't have to read this whole thing for it, it won't hurt my feelings cause this thing got long sgnxgnxnh

💚>> EDIT: @carolperkinsexgirlfriend expanded on the aro robin thing and its literal perfection!! <<💚

tbh the past few days ive felt like i was loosing my spark a bit (could be a medication thing now that i think about it) so the plans for today are to rewatch some really damn good motion pictures, feel some emotions probably, and go from there.

having said that, i was able to put together a fun little idea about Robin Stranger Things as Robin Hood, Steve and Little John, either Vickie or Chrissy as Maid Marian. Chrissy would fit the secretly badass princess type very well, thinking princess peach in the mario movie, while vickie would be slightyyy more tough girl princess, thinking fiona from the first shrek. I'm not like a huge fan of slapping character names into roles just because, so i think most antagonists would be of the robin-hood-world and some might get left out. Dustin and Erica would be there, possibly as merry men, or i also think itd be cool to mix another vaguely-medieval story that fits the kids group better, have it be something in the backstory or future or something like a story living in the edges of this one. Eddies also an easy fit as the minstrel and could be tied to chrissy's story too if you want

im not planning on writing anything for it, but the story ideas that are jumping out to me rn are mostly characters meeting/origin stories. Steve and Robin meet early on in her outcastery, Robin in jail for stealing and Steve also locked up close by either for something outrageously stupid or something definitely illegal but for the sake of his little brother and friends. They swap stories and then swap even more jokes and fun banter. Either Robin loops him in on her plan to break out, or Dustin and Erica come to break Steve out during her escape and they all team up. Maybe a little part where they visit Dustin and friends, let him know Steve's fine even tho him and Robin are fugitives, maybe Dustin tries to follow them but they have to send him back until he's old enough to move out, an emotional "we're not gone forever" talk, concluding with Robin and Steve heading off to camp in the woods and figure out what's next. maybe robin comes out here, maybe steve had confessed and whatnot similar to the show, maybe robin just needed to establish that she's not into him before they started adventuring just the two of them. Maybe she mentions her future plans, to stay firmly on the laws bad side, maybe to reunite with the lady she found at the edge of palace gardens, something that would make the road alongside her rougher than his already will be, and Steve chooses to join her anyway.

also a romantic subplot with Chrissy or Vickie.

if its chrissy, i think itd go similarly to the disney movie (relative to vickie's anyway), chrissy has her princessy life and through circumstance (maybe an archery contest, maybe they run into each other, probably a combination of run-ins) they meet and are into each other, maybe Robin crossdresses and after she's revealed to be a girl Chrissy's head over heels, maybe Chrissy runs away, maybe robin wins her favor, lots of fun princess tropes to play with.

with vickie, i keep leaning into the Fiona-style angle where she very much doesn't care to be in a royal setting, not rejecting femininity just spinning the princess archetype on its head. So maybe she's a runaway, maybe she rescued herself, or maybe she faked her death or something extreme, and she runs into robin (maybe robins disguised and she looks extra rougish, maybe vickie had only heard bad stories about her) and they fight. if vickie wins she notices in her victory robins actual personality, realizes shes not aggressive like expected and they talk, and if robin wins she does a mercy thing, maybe disarms her to get enough time to run off and vickies like 🤨mysterious🤨 or they spark up conversation. Maybe part of Robins group comes in either ready to defend her or diffuse the situation and their appearance soon splits the fight. lots and lots to play with. one way or another vickie tags along or joins the group, she and robin fall in love, yippee

aaaand third option: polyarmory, where chrissy joins the group first, they run into vickie second, and the three of them fall in love.

fourth option: aro robin (lol get it. cause. arrows.) who picks up princesses (plus steve too) like its her job and those princesses fall in love

r*nance (* for search because this isn't exactly abt them, NOT to be a dick about it) could work too ig but its not my jam so im not diving into that angle

i also love the idea of expanding robins relationship with any of the kids (Dustin and especially Erica, because scoops troop has solid character dynamic potential thats barely touched. Robin and Max too, and it'd make sense to bring in Lucas too with his ties to both Erica and Max)

if this gives anyone else brainworms and you want to write it, absolutely go for it, i know im definitely not going to sit down and write scenes or anything for it, and if you're comfortable tag me so i can read it!!

for Wiggy Wednesday im tagging (no pressure ofc): @starry-eyed-steve @marvel-ous-m @lightoftheseraph @pearynice @puppy-steve

@tinytalkingtina @dreamwatch @flowercrowngods @withacapitalp @writing-kiki

@queenie-ofthe-void @carolperkinsexgirlfriend @eriquin @hairstevington @sunflowerharrington

@imfinereallyy @sourw0lfs

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blubushie · 21 days ago

Note

https://www.tumblr.com/blubushie/783304145085038592/something-that-ive-been-pondering-for-a-while-is?source=share

this is spot on. i don't think it's a coincidence that the twitter side of the fandom has the most chronically online drama every two days and that it's always teenagers and really young adults in those parts of the community. i'm in another fandom where the largest demographic is people in their late 20s to early 40s and it is a much more mature and civilized place in comparison.

Yeah I've even noticed it as I've gotten older these past few years (hilarious how a stroke makes you basically 16 again in terms of emotional maturity and then as I've recovered it's shot up to way past whatever it was before). I sit here on my porch watching some shit go down thinking "Damn hope them hooligans don't come over here onto my lawn" like an old man.

Also noting that people in their late 20s to early 40s have often figured themselves out in life, or at least have laid some kinds of foundations of who they are as a person and what they enjoy doing BESIDES being online all the damn time. They have IRL friends they go and physically hang out with, they have hobbies of some kind, they often have a job that keeps them away for most of the day, or maybe they're in schooling. Hell, maybe they even had kids at this point. Often they have a long-term partner they're spending time with or doing activities with. Often they're just busy with fucking chores. Past your mid 20s people are typically much more busy offline, which makes all the online drama look very pointless—and childish.

A trend I've noticed for people who are teens are very toxic in fandoms is that they never have anything besides their online life. They never have extracurricular activities, they never have sport, they often aren't driving, they never do anything that actually pulls them away from their devices. This creates a pretty awful feedback loop of bored and seeking dopamine → go online → surround yourself with people exactly like you → get involved in drama because you're a kid who thinks you know everything and are always right and can never admit you're wrong → be an arsehole → get mad about it → go offline for five minutes → repeat ad infinitum.

The company you keep also goes a long way. There's little toxicity in my server cuz people in there aren't toxic. And that's because I eventually got rid of the people that were toxic. (Technically the biggest two contributors outright left and one didn't want to come back, thank Christ, and I refused to let the other back in unless they stopped being a toxic shit and they never did and eventually I cut them off entirely because of their behaviour, so). The people you associate with will do a lot to either calm you down or rile you up, and you need to drop the people that do the latter. Two years down the line you'll sit there and think "The way they reacted to these people who definitely meant no harm and always assumed the worst of people and constantly attacked people was bad, actually, and it's bad that they tried to involve me in it". And you'll kick yourself for the damage they caused the people around you, and the damage you contributed to, but you'll be glad you got rid of them when you did. You'll just kinda wish you'd done it a little sooner.

You live and learn, it comes with maturity. Learn from your mistakes so you don't repeat them. The issue is that teenagers and very young adults with little life experience are always convinced they're the smartest and most morally correct in the room.

#blu whos

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foreversnews · 11 months ago

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1:am July 4th, sitting here flipping this Tamia I'm so into you song in to a slow sample

thinking of new ways to trust myself

this song has always reminded me of a special kinda of feeling around love. or infatuation at least right now this specific scope of "love" feels more to me like alice millers cover of spell on you by Nina Simone

or frank ocean seigfeind

or looks good with trouble by Solange

slow sample just going on loop as I write this

" I can't realllyyy exxxxplaainitttt"

slowed down at about 45.5 bpm

I used to hear this and think of the most life affirming guilty embarrasingly mushy love

where my young imagination could only think of me walking in the sunlight with a pretty girl, not even touching her, just walking

funny how I always thought romance could save me from something

even as a kid I would almost stay up all night before the first day of school, finally I get to see girls !!

I could get a girlfriend !!

life was simple like that then, elementary school me lol

wanted to feel like something to somebody so baddd

"iiii rreeaallly liiikke what youuu dooonne too meee"

as slowed sample plays*

this song it still hasn't lost its shiny touch

makes me think of someone that I haven't spoke to in while an

meiby in a way I thought she could save me from myself

if I pretend enough

if i talk enough

if i give enough

if I tell you any and everything

nothing stopped the inevitable end

as the loop still runs *

"doooonnee toooo meee"

I think of the countless beds I found myself in the search of the comfort of the that little kid that just wanted to feel like that song feels

cords and rhythms bouncing off my shoulder blades

quick as a lie Is told

as love is perceived

I've ran out of rhythms to not see in this

"whhhaaat youuuu Donnee too meee "

as the sample plays on loop *

playing out the cyclical natures of my most intimate desires coverd by cathexis of pretty faces and gentle misreadings

but to young people who like each other isn't there any more to think a out??? haha my young mind thought it was that easy

making Valentine day cards. hiding them in desk and sing to girls during recess lol

I found (Mei)self dreaming this person again.

how can I begin to think about this in a way the keeps me intact ?

because after all this is who I built for better or worst

become charming people will forget how you've warn that same unwashed uniform shirt to school 5 days In a row

maybe she might look past the body odor you quite don't know how to get in order yet lol

ive always found myself obsessing over what my first time would be like

would it be like one pf those songs of the weekends trilogy ? high school me would think about lol

after all it seems like the perfect sounds track to this double reality I found myself in from a young aspiring towards everything and hopping to find home

'IIIII ammmsoooo iii inn too you"

sample still runs *

being a young boy not really aware of my innocence

didn't feel like I had anything worth seeing

like I was guilty from the first perception of others

the only thing that I could see for myself was desire of romance

maybe I could think about this all day and nothing else

I remember one day my dad would update me on his latest sexual prized catch and how sexy she was, how ,such she pleased him

"iccaannnntt reallly exxplaainne It"

Sample does on *

.........................................................

now my conquest for the ultimate I immature romance, devided in two sexual prowas and power.

after all if my dad is telling me all these details it must be somthing worth doing right?

was he only telling me this to escape his own feelings of loneliness

maybe if he reflects some sort of cool posture ill look at him in a way that helps him look at himself

funny how that goes

bc here I am now hoping to see my value in bodies, faces,ect

but how can I ask them to see omthing I havnt deeply interrogated ?

I know now that love feels more like Alice Coltranes going home

unknowable, only lived and acted out in my own personal being

romance is just a extent of ritual maybe

the coldness of my young self non knowing how to cope with poverty, with abuse and misuse of my young body, mind.

its not far off that, that became the only motivating factor win my life but I deeply want to know myself in everyday possible

not from a automated idea in hopes of finding someone

im not personality package, a body to be used, an idea to be exploited

but then again.

'iiiii reeallly liikkke whhaat youuuuu donnneee to mee iii cannnnt rreealllly exxpllaainne iiit iiiimm sooo iiinn too youuu"

last sample flip*

maybe this coldness is what ive never recognized.

(im rambling and speaking in fragments but I wanted to be honest with how many turns my brain was making "

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karda · 1 year ago

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joy and madeline infodump yippeeeee

almost all of the art ive made of joy and mads is set before or during her death/resurrection. i think these pieces are really the only ones ive done during the loops. and theyre from her pov

i havent drawn a lot of what joy sees and does during the loops. kinda just what madeline sees/pieces together. i imagine she slowly starts to realize whats going on after a while, having memories from past loops come to her the deeper they go.

the start of the time loop would begin after madelines death, when joy resurrects her. and resetting when the world ends. after joy brings her back, he gives madeline part of his soul to sustain her. this imbalance (not only madeline being undead, but splitting a soul in two), and joy's new ability to see the gods and otherworldly beings around them (like cassidy) creates a shift in the two realms. as time passes, they start to collide, and beings that had very little real world affect start to be able to completely fuck up shit around them. (ex: Hope, normally a minor god that plays petty games and meddles with peoples thoughts, can now directly affect people's lives and interact with them.) Joy's only hope of balancing things out, and keeping madeline with him, is convincing or tricking the gods around him. Joy will keep trying until he finds a better ending , or until the gods give up and give madeline her soul back.

(art of the resurrection, + of the world ending)

madeline is changed from her past self, her time in the afterlife feeling like years when it was just days. the only person that notices is cassidy, because joy is too blind by his will for her to stay alive to check if its even her anymore. cassidy believes joy is selfish and scared, and thinks he only keeps trying because he blames himself. cassidy has been friends with Misfortune for years, and has become comfortable with both realms, and feels betrayed by Joy for ruining it for her. she's just a kid. she never remembers the time loop exists, but in each one she figures it out quickly.

madeline was basically an older sister figure to cassidy, and practically lived at her house, even when she wasn't meant to be babysitting her. Madeline's ghost hurts Cassidy more than her death, having to see a fake image of her sister walking and talking when she's still grieving.

just some random lore shit👍👍👍👍 if u read this Mwah love u ❤️

#rambling #ocs #joy #madeline

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spagheddiesquash · 1 year ago

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hi hello!! im not the greatest with theories, BUUUUT……

figured id throw my hat into the ring!!! basically for the past two days ive been mapping out a little… i honestly dont even know the term for it. ive called it a “theory web kind of thing, of sorts” for monkey wrench!! (however i feel as though that may not be the correct term to use, i dunno, it just doesnt sound right)

it is very big and convoluted, and also difficult to read in the screenshot of the full thing because of how massive it is, so i figured id walk you guys through it maybe?? FAIR WARNINGS: THIS POST WILL PROBABLY CONTAIN MONKEY WRENCH SPOILERS AND IT WILL MOST DEFINITELY BE RIDICULOUSLY LONG. THIS IS THE ONLY WARNING. CAPISCE? ALRIGHTY LETS GET INTO IT.

WAIT ACTUALLY ONE MORE THING:

some of this kinda piggybacks off of theories and stuff that ive seen from other users of this site, most notably @toastraccoon and @awwkie-dot-jar (sorry for the @’s, wanted to give credit and figured that would be the best way to do so since the @’s redirect to the respective blogs). both of them were actually what inspired me to put this together in the first place!!! go check their blogs out theyre amazing btw

the rest of the post is below the cut!!

anyway, without further ado:

for simplicity i have dubbed it “monkey spaghetti” because if you look at it from a glance it looks like a nice, hot bowl of unconventionally-colored pasta noodles, i think.

first and foremost, in order to understand my bullshit i made a helpful handy-dandy little key, pictured below.

i had to move the key so that’s why the square is out of place. i simply directed to its proper location on the key with an arrow :^)

anyway, i’ll start with walking you guys through the bigger blob first, that being this one:

so first of all:

(i dont think you can really see if very well so i will say it here, the screenshotted post of the giant statue of the primaries in the second image is from awwkie-dot-jar)

*yeah, in hindsight i feel like i exaggerated a fair amount, but the point still stands regardless. i tacked on the “like, at ALL” just because i didn’t wanna completely state the obvious. i should go back and edit it i think.

and:

as well as:

AND:

NOTE: my screenshots loop back to things i have previously shown for continuity reasons!!! so you dont get confused trying to read the whole web all chopped up like this :^D

additionally:

!!!THIS IS NOT ALL OF IT, TUMBLR IMAGE LIMIT IS 30 PER POST SO I WILL HAVE TO REBLOG WITH THE REST!!!

before i do that, i will reiterate:

i do NOT know what im doing

im not sure whether i have everything correct

because i have never done this before

i mean i hope i have everything right but like

yeah

take everything with a grain of salt

considering i have kind of poor memory sometimes

and also how many spitball ideas i put into this shit

TO BE CONTINUED FOR NOW

#monkey wrench #monkey wrench theories #monkey wrench spoilers

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hauntedberries · 10 months ago

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my 30th attack gets a whole post to itself because its SPESHIL and i spent a WHOLE DAY ON IT!!!!!! attack for GravellyMistaken / @graveys-art-blog featuring their twp guys YAYYYYY

extra analysis bits under the cut (shamelessly copy pasted from my twt). mwah!

the first sketch is so funny to me i put all my energy into sam and then went eh fuck dat for the other two AHAHAHAHA im sorry i swear i have better sketches of vitor and uri im too lazy to pull them out

initially i wanted the soldier poet king themeing hence the arrangement (sam soldier, vitor poet, uri king), n u can see here that uri was supposed to have a blood splatter crown for the 'king' part but it wasnt coming out right.. i really had 0 idea what to do w her background until i Had to do it. it was just all trial n error and i was working until 4am so brother were there Errors. but i think it came out nice in the end! and while drawing i realized uri's themed after the king of diamonds/hearts so it looped back into the king themeing luckily AHAAHHAA

speaking of uri's bg tho, one random detail i like that somehow made it better for me was this streak at the back which could be interpreted as a river of blood OR smoke from a gun. cool fun stuff

i also wanted to do a thing w the composition where its like.. this is so scuffed but this. just so their poses didnt look completely random? sam n uri have one arm folded and the other doing whatever, while both of vitor's arms are folded. so it kinda has some sense of cohesion

and the border! i am a big fan. i took a lot of inspo from the tarot card series ive yet to continue. here's a wip image of it from april though. u can see the similarities of it w the one here!

THE top is the symbol i use for twp, which is a butterfly with eyes and the morse code for SOS. its encased in whats supposed to be the portal w 7 tentacles coming out of it to represent eri's 7 fragments!

as for the side border, its supposed to be quiro, lanluy, burmelio, then kh'elle, which is the order of the kingdoms the spinoff party visits in their adventure!!!! u can also see the morse code repeated :3

lastly their body language! sam is closed off, quite literally shielding their heart w their sword. they both look ready to strike but defend too.

vitor is juggling but i also wanted it to look like he's shrugging! to represent his kinda go with the flow attitude, but also how his arc has themes of being left in the dark bc my ouppy is a . fucking. dumbass

u can also see above that at first uri's pose had her holding the book closer to her but it made for a bad silhouette.. and it felt more ic to me to have her have a more open pose? bc she's eager to learn and spunky and confident!

e knee way those are just my extra thoughts on this piece. i had a lot of fun making it and i hope u have just as much fun Looking at it HAHHAHAHA im really proud of this one >_<

#artfight 2024 #artfight stardust #team stardust #not my oc #twp au #artfight #full piece

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prfctparis · 2 years ago

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I’d Give You My Lungs So You Can Breathe (I’ve Got You, Brother) [CH2]

AO3 Link / Ch1 / Next / Masterlist

summary:

Danny Fenton was adopted at age ten, with little to no memories about his former family. At age fourteen, he died yet lived and those memories began to return. He didn’t do anything about those memories – didn’t plan to, at least not yet – but then he got captured by the GIW, saved by his friends and someone who might be his sister who he only somewhat remembered, and taken to Gotham to, apparently, his biological father for safety until further notice.

Team Phantom was there, too, and they did not sign up for this family drama.

a/n:

here’s chapter 2!! ch3 will be up in a few days :)

warnings for entire fic:

canon-typical violence of the DC variety; angst; memory loss/repressed memories; do i need to say major character death(s) or is that just a given for this fandom; questionable parenting tho every parent is trying to do good & care for the kids; implied/referenced past child abuse bc of the child assassin backgrounds; pls tell me if i missed something

CHAPTER SPECIFIC WARNINGS: mentioned/implied vivisection, but i don’t go into detail; athanasia mercilessly kills so many people; violence; blood; i think that’s it?

CHAPTER TWO —

When the first appearances of the Guys in White were seen back in October, Danny had no idea it would lead to this—

Locked to a metal table with scientists surrounding him and two assassins on guard at the door.

That was really all he was aware of. Everything else? Only pain. A dull burning pain that went throughout his entire body, and the cause was the IV attached to his arm. The contents were unknown, but Danny knew some percent of it was made out of blood blossoms – just enough that it didn’t kill him; just enough that it rendered him useless against them.

A metal mask covered his mouth and nose. It kept him from speaking, or biting, or screaming.

There were one or two other things that did something… Danny didn’t remember. It’s all been so fuzzy lately. It made something in the back of his mind panic.

More pain washed through him. It was worse this time, like it always was. Each day hurt a little more. Each day he got a little weaker.

What were they doing to him?

Danny squeezed his eyes shut. He breathed through it the best he could.

His chest ached, as if there was an open wound.

He peeled opened his eyes.

Oh. Right. That’s what they were doing to him.

Vivisection…again.

Lovely.

He distantly heard the door open. The scientists began to speak; a conversation started above him that wasn’t about his guts, for once. He did his best to focus on listening to them.

“…ill haven’t found the ghost’s core…” one said. “There is a high chance he won’t survive another operation after this one.”

“As long as he survives this one,” a different voice said.

And it was…familiar? Why–

A hand touched his hair. He flinched involuntarily, eyes rapidly blinking. When his vision focused and he trailed his eyes upward, fear gripped him instantly.

“I want the pleasure of killing you for good, Phantom,” the face from his nightmares spoke. “Or should I say,” the grip on his hair tightened and the man sneered, “Dányál.”

+++

Voices filtered through the vent grate from the room they were over. Three people were at the console; in front of them, multiple screens showing the security camera’s feeds played before the operatives’ eyes. A few of them were loops, curtesy of Tucker Foley and his way with technology.

Two more people were in the security room, as well, but they didn’t speak. Athanasia could just make out the edges of their shadows from where they stood at the door. They stood stock still; posed and ready to begin fighting at a moment’s notice.

Three GIW Operatives. Two members of the League of Assassins. Five in total.

She’s had worse odds.

Mentally, she quickly devised a plan that wouldn’t get them caught, and then acted.

Ever so slowly and quietly, she lifted the grate. One of the GIW operatives stood up and stretched. The man moved to stand directly under the grate, unaware of Athanasia and unknowingly making this a bit easier – something she was definitely not going to complain about.

She dropped out of the vent, directly on top of the operative and consequently knocking him out. Drawing one gun from the holster on her back, she shot the two League of Assassins members before they could even react. Thanks to the silencer on it, the gunshots were barely audible, and two bodies fell to the floor with twin thuds.

She then threw two manji shurikens at the operative who reached to call in reinforcements. One went into the back of his hand, and the other his forearm. At the same, the third operative rushed at her. Just in time, she dodged to the side and pulled out a dagger, finding a home for it in the man’s gut, slicing upwards. She trained the gun on the one she threw the shurikens at, and a bullet landed right between the eyes, slumping in the chair he never got a chance to get out of.

The man she landed on began to move. She stomped on his temple with the heel of her boot, hard enough to kill. The man went limp immediately.

“It’s safe,” she called, and moved two of the bodies from underneath the vent. Blood was already pooling and made sure not to step in it. “Do not land in the blood, unless you want to be the one to get us caught by tracking red footprints everywhere.”

Red Huntress, AKA Valerie Gray, came down first. She whistled lowly as she took in the room. “Damn,” she muttered. “You weren’t kidding when you said you were an assassin.”

Next came Samantha Manson as Athanasia went to move the two LoA members from the door. She glanced over her shoulder as Manson said, “You didn’t believe her with all the weapons she carries?”

Red Huntress slipped off her helmet. “Excuse me for not immediately believing someone when they tell me they’re the long lost twin assassin of our friend. Which, by the way, I’m still iffy on the twin thing. You’re too different.”

Athanasia raised an eyebrow. “Wow, it is almost as if we are fraternal twins with different personalities, and have been separated for eight years.”

Red Huntress rolled her eyes. “Geez, okay. Chill with the smartass-ness.”

“Look, I understand your distrust, Valerie,” Manson said, “and I didn’t believe it at first, either, but who else could she be?”

“You can still be a genetically altered clone,” Tucker Foley said from where he was wiggling out backwards of the vent. “Like Ellie.”

“I can promise you that I am not.”

“Not helping, Tucker.”

Foley finally fell down. Athanasia was quick to move, and placed a hand on his shoulder as he became unbalanced.

“Don’t put your left foot down,” she ordered.

He froze. “Um.”

She turned him until he wasn’t about to step in a puddle of blood, and then let go. “Okay.”

He hesitated, but did put his foot down. Then, he took a large side step away from both the blood and Athanasia. “Thanks,” he said, a little awkwardly.

She nodded once. Then, turning on her comm while wiping off her dagger on her pant leg and sheathing it, she said, “Weston, do you copy?”

Foley moved to the many consoles of the computers. He sat down in a chair, the furthest from the one with the dead body, and pulled out equipment from his backpack. Manson followed and watched the screens with a keen eye, and Red Huntress stayed near the door, though watched the camera feeds as well.

“Loud and clear, Phantom’s twin,” Wesley Weston replied. “Your get away car and it’s driver are in position.”

“Good. Stay connected to this line. Depending on how fast everything goes down, we will need extraction at a moment’s notice.”

“You got it, dude.”

“Have I mentioned how nice these comms are?” Foley questioned. “Because I’m in love with them.”

“Only about a hundred times,” said Manson.

“Can you blame me? Even scrambling their signature with ectoplasm, the sound is so clear. No type of ghostly feedback whatsoever. I need them for myself once we’re done here.” As he talked, he worked on connecting with the GIW’s system, hacking away undetected. “Where did you get them?”

“I stole one from Batman and then replicated it.”

Silence fell. Foley froze for a second time, and Manson’s expression turned into shocked disbelief. Red Huntress mouth parted in surprise.

Then, all at once, they began speaking.

“No way you did that–.”

“You’ve met Batman?! Do you know his identity because I have a theory–”

“Everything you say makes me more confused–.”

“You replicated tech from Batman?!”

“Guys. Guys!” Athanasia raised her voice. “Focus,” she snapped. “We are on a time limit, here.”

“But–”

“Shut up, Weston,” she ground out.

Wesley let out a disappointed sigh.

“The shift changes in forty-five minutes,” she reminded them. “Unless we want GIW operatives and more assassins to find us earlier than planned, I suggest we get to work on saving Danny.”

That settled things down quickly.

Part of her regretted not doing this by herself, which had been the original plan, even way back when she first heard her twin was within GIW custody. She had been so tempted to go in there with no plan at all, to find Danny and get him out. But she wasn’t familiar with the GIW. Luckily, she knew who was, and she went to them.

(Neither Manson or Tucker trusted her, or even believed her, those first couple of weeks.)

Even still, she sent a message to Damian asking him to look up the Ghost Investigation Ward. She didn’t get an immediate response from him – not like it mattered. The moment Danny’s best friends allowed her to work with them on saving him, Foley had created a device that scrambled any and all tech to keep them from the GIW’s eyes, and consequently everyone else outside of their area.

And then she learned the League of Assassins were working with the GIW, for some reason.

She tried to back out, to convince them to let her do this part by herself. The League was dangerous, simply put, and she didn’t want anyone, especially the people Danny cared most about, to get hurt or worse by them. But Danny had a good group of friends who were particularly stubborn and headstrong. As annoying as it was, she did like that about them. It meant they weren’t going to give up the search anytime soon.

Valerie Gray and Wesley Weston joined in on the mission a few weeks ago, when she and Manson and Foley were finalizing the plan. They realized it would be best to bring in another person or two, just in case.

And so, she was stuck with what they deemed as ‘Team Phantom’. A group of not so regular teens from a haunted town, who were definitely a little odd but trustworthy.

Team Phantom was good – each of them in their own ways.

So, as much as she regretted this, she also was glad she decided not to go in alone. It was easier. Nicer.

They also may be growing on her. Like mold, or moss, or fungi, or something.

She didn’t really know how to feel about that.

“Okay,” Foley mumbled. “Let’s see… Ah, 3D floor plans. Sweet.” He pulled up the floor plans on his laptop. “So we’re here,” a green dot appeared on the 3D floor plan where the security room was, “on the first floor. These are the exits,” he highlighted them in a light orange, “and the far left ventilation shaft on the roof is where we came in,” it was highlighted a darker purple while the rest of the vent system became more of a lilac color, “There’s three floors, not including what seems to be a secret basement. It’s not on the original floor plans I found, but it is on here and there are cameras.”

“That’s probably where they’re keeping Danny,” Red Huntress said as she walked up.

Foley pulled up the basement cameras. Empty holding cells filled up three of the screens. All of them were closed, except for one. The door was left open, with only part of a thin mattress on a metal frame in sight because of the angle.

“Are there any cameras for the room at the end of the hall?” Manson asked, cutting into the disappointed silence. She pointed at one screen, where a inconspicuous door could be seen.

Athanasia kept her eyes on the screens as Foley worked. Worry are her up alive on the inside, but she refused to show it.

“…No,” he said, and the disappointed silence returned.

“That’s not suspicious at all,” Red Huntress muttered sarcastically.

“Yes, there has to be a reason there are no cameras,” agreed Athanasia.

The other girl suggested, “I can check down there after I comb through the first floor like we originally planned.”

She frowned a little. “It may be heavily guarded.”

“I regularly fight ghosts. This is nothing.”

“From what the cameras can see, the basement doesn’t have many guards,” said Foley. “Operatives are walking around, and maybe one or two of those assassins, but other than that there’s no one.”

“Then Danny’s not there,” Manson said.

“If you really are up to it,” started Athanasia, “you should still check it out, Red Huntress. Perhaps there might be something the Doctors Fentons left behind before Danny was able to send them to the Infinite Realms.”

If that was where they were. Manson and Foley explained to her that had been the original plan when Danny went to save them.

Red Huntress nodded with determination. “I’m up for it, definitely.”

“Which floor is most heavily guarded?”

Foley’s eyes went from the security feeds to his computer, back and forth again and again. “From what I can tell from the cameras, they’re all equally distributed on each floor. Definitely one of the top floors, though.”

“There are some labs on the second floor,” Manson commented. She pointed at another screen, where one operative entered a room as he held some sort of vial and clipboard. She then pointed to a different feed from the same floor, where it showed a couple of operatives leaving a room with mechanics of some sort. “I’ll take this floor. Destroy what they have by planting the bombs, take what may help us figure out how to fight against them better, and what they might have gotten out of Jack and Maddie.”

“So, that leaves Athanasia with the third floor, and me here corrupting any files in their system they about Danny and ghosts in general, while also leading you guys around to avoid getting caught,” Foley concluded. “Right?”

“Right,” the girls chorused.

“Send Weston a file of the 3D floor plan,” Athanasia ordered. “It will aid him in knowing the possible exits he might have to meet us at.”

“Oh, I hadn’t even thought of that,” Wesley said.

“I figured.”

“Hey, rude.”

She ignored him. She went over to the body in the chair, and took back her manji shurikens. Like she did with the dagger, she wiped off the blood on her pant leg, and put them back in their respective sheaths along her thigh, nestled with the others.

Mentally, she quickly made note of her other weapons. The gun holstered on her right thigh, and the dagger sheathed on the calf of the same leg; the twin swords sheathed in an X on her back; two more guns holstered at her lower back, which were made with knives that came out of the grip when needed. She had hidden types of shurikens, a small knife hidden in the sole of both boots, and not to mention her fists and feet and teeth. (Biting was very effective, okay?)

Red Huntress had her usual weapons, plus the bombs, as did Manson and Foley. Athanasia made sure they knew how to handle them correctly one more time.

And then the search and rescue began.

Red Huntress parted with Athanasia and Manson at the security room’s door. Foley led the former one down the hall, while the latter two were led to the staircase. One floor up, and Manson parted from her to scope out the second floor.

Foley spoke the most, informing them of incoming GIW or LoA people. Red Huntress gave a few updates on the bomb placements, and Manson, after having slipped into the first empty room on the second floor, told them she found pieces of a prototype of the Fenton’s portal machine.

“Take the important pieces if you know what they are. Place a bomb on the rest to destroy them,” Athanasia told her.

“I’m taking the blueprints, too. We can check to see if they’re at all accurate with Danny later,” replied Sam.

“Where the hell did he come from,” Foley’s voice came through, confusing the girls.

“What? Who?” Manson asked.

“Some regal, evil looking dude is in the basement. I think he came out of the room that doesn’t have cameras, but I’m not one hundred percent sure… Is it just a thing that bad middle aged men have pointy-ish hair?”

Athanasia faltered three steps away from reaching the third floor. “What.”

“Plasmius’ hair curls up, so it sort of looks like devil horns or something. This guy’s hair is similar but not as dramatic, and the points are more on the sides than the top of his head, but I think it’s because it’s just slicked back. Guy’s got a thing for dark green, too.”

Dread began to fill her gut.

“Maybe I can meet him half way and beat some answers out of him,” Red Huntress bit out.

“Do not,” Athanasia hissed. “Stay the hell away from that man, and do not go into the basement until he is out.”

“Why not?” asked Manson. “It’s just an old dude, apparently. We have experience fighting them.”

“Unfortunately,” Red Huntress grouched. “Is he another Vlad? Because I do not want to deal with that.”

“He’s getting in the elevator, so Val should be safe if–.”

“If you go against him, you will die. What floor is he going to?”

“Let me get into the right elevator’s cams… It looks like he pressed for the third floor.”

Her breath hitched, and Athanasia cursed in Arabic under her breath. A sneer formed on her face. She took a step back, only to nearly slip off of the step. Quickly, she rebalanced and turned, and hurried back down the stairs.

…Maybe it wasn’t him. Maybe she jumped to conclusions too fast.

“Is he gray at the temples? Tall? Goatee minus the chin hair and mustache?”

“Um… yeah.”

Okay. She didn’t jump to conclusions.

“Okay,” she muttered. “Okay,” she repeated in Arabic.

“Atha–.”

“Do not use my name,” she spoke so fast she wondered if they even understood her. “Call me…” Her mind went to the few times she aided Red Hood in Gotham from the shadows. She knew that he knew she was there, but neither one of them spoke to each other or made it known to the civilians, which freaked them out a bit when a bad guy would be impaled out of nowhere. A few had started to use a name for her. “Use Shrike.”

“Is everything okay?” Wesley asked.

The others answered ‘I don’t know’ in varying ways at the same time.

Fear gripped at her, causing her mind turn into a whirlwind. She did her best to calm down so she could think rationally about this, but the only thing her brain could truly focus on was that Ra’s al Ghul was here. Her grandfather. The man who ran a sword through her twin’s chest with no remorse.

And if he’s here… He knew Danny was alive. There was absolutely no way that he didn’t.

She didn’t plan for this. Stupid. How did she not think of the possibility of Ra’s being here?

“You all continue with your parts of the plan, except for Red Huntress. I will be going to the basement in your place; stick to the first and second floors. No one is touching the third floor.”

“Now, wait just a minute–.”

“I will not wait–.”

“Um, it’s a figure of speech–,” Foley tried, but Athanasia continued over him.

“I know that, and my statement still stands. Follow my orders unless you want to die by the sword of the Demon’s Head. Are there stairs to the basement?”

A beat of silence.

“…No. Only the elevator.” Just as she reached the stairwell’s door, Foley added, “Two assassins are about to enter your location, Ath– um. Shrike?”

Athanasia ducked behind the door as it opened. Keeping her footsteps light, she stayed next to the door as it moved to close, out of their immediate line of sight. When the door shut all the way, she lunged with her dagger in hand, grabbing one assassin from behind. One hand covered their mouth while the other lifted her to slit their throat.

Assassin #2 immediately noticed what was happening, and drew a sword to attack. Athanasia used the first one as a shield before shoving the body away as she drew one of her own swords. It didn’t take long for her to overtake Assassin #2, though they did get a couple hits in. She now had a cut on her cheek, and a bruise forming on her side from a harsh kick.

Before speaking, she muted her comm.

“Pathetic,” she sneered, holding Assassin #2 against the stairwell’s railing by her forearm on their chest and sword against their neck. “Is this really what the League has become? I was expecting a harder fight.”

“You,” they hissed, a little bit shock on their features and disbelief in their voice. “You are supposed to be dead.”

“Are you really surprised?” she questioned. “Look at who my grandfather is. But that is not what I am here for.” The blade pressed harder against skin. “I am here for Phantom. Where is he? What does the League want with him?”

“Why should I tell you? You will just kill me after.”

“And you think I will let you live if you refuse?”

The assassin raised their chin in defiance. “There is a reason you left the League, no? It is the same one why Ra’s killed your brother. The Terror Twins – both too soft and weak to follow simple orders. You and him are the pathetic ones. Not us.”

Athanasia raised an eyebrow. She didn’t verbally rise to the bait. She merely pulled back enough to where she kept the assassin in place with the sword, and removed her other arm. In a flash, Assassin #2 moved to knock the sword away, but she was faster. She drew out a gun and shot them in both knees and one shoulder.

Assassin #2 crumpled with a shout of pain.

Sword now sheathed but the gun still on hand, she bent down and lifted him back up by gripping his hair.

“That,” she began, “That was me being nice. You seem to have forgotten who I am: Athanasia al Ghul, daughter of Talia al Ghul and the greatest detective in the world, and granddaughter of Ra’s al Ghul. I was trained as a potential heir, and lead the Demon’s Fist. I am the Demon Princess of the League of Assassins, dead or alive, and let me be clear that I have not lost my touch over the years I have been gone. I know multiple ways to kill you before you can take your next breath, before you even know what is happening.

“You think I will not kill you if you refuse to give me answers? Perhaps not immediately, but I will leave you writhing in pain until it is the one thing you beg for, and who’s to say I will do it even then.

“So. Let’s try this again.” Her finger flicked the button on her gun that released the knife in the grip. The blade pressed against Assassin #2’s neck hard enough to draw blood. “Where is Phantom?”

For a moment, she thought they weren’t going to answer. Then, resigned and obviously mad about it, they told her, “There is a floor below the basement. Phantom is there.”

“See? Now was that so hard?”

The assassin stared with a heated glare. Before she could act properly, they raised their good arm and slashed at her. The knife cut into the forearm that held her gun, and instinctively she dropped it as she moved away. They lunged for a killing stab at her chest, but by then she was ready to block the attack. One hand still gripping their hair and the other now holding back the hand wielding the knife, she twisted the wrist until it broke and bashed their head into the edge of the steps.

Assassin #2 went limp.

Were they breathing? She didn’t know, nor did she care.

Careful of her now wounded arm, she picked back up her gun. The knife went back in its hiding place, and she put the gun securely in the holster. Then, she turned back on her comm.

“I know where he is.”

+++

Getting to the basement was easy. With Foley’s help, she avoided operatives and assassins on the way to the elevator, and that was that. He also unlocked the door at the far end of the basement’s hall. It had been locked via a hidden mechanical lock that she would have needed false identification for if Foley wasn’t with them. It took only just under two minutes, and then the door opened with ease.

Athanasia took a step into the doorway, and then froze.

“Shrike?” Foley asked. “Why did you stop?”

“Is she in the room?” Manson asked.

“She just, um, froze in the doorway. Are you okay? What is it?”

“…I am,” she said. “But I think it’s better if I do not tell you.”

A League issued torture room. Nothing about it said it was for the Ghost Investigation Ward.

The only thing that eased her mind a little was that it obviously hadn’t been used in a while.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and then continued on. Soon enough, she found a hidden staircase, and went down without hesitation.

“I’ve got no eyes on you, Shrike,” Foley reminded her. “Stay safe.”

“Give ‘em hell,” Manson said.

“With pleasure,” she replied back.

The hall she entered from the stairs was reminiscent of a League base. Her fingers twitched, an uncomfortable feeling settling in her stomach at the sight. Pushing that aside, she walked down the hall at a steady pace towards two LoA members guarding double doors.

They noticed her immediately. It quickly became a fight of two against one, but it ended just as fast. She picked up their respective swords and twirled them in her hands as she walked to the double doors, kicking them open.

Everything and everyone in the room stopped.

Athanasia didn’t give them a chance to act first. The two assassins that guarded the inside began to fight back almost instantly, but it took the GIW operatives and scientists a few seconds to do the same.

The fight was brutal. Against the most people so far today, though it wasn’t necessarily hard, it was the longest one yet. They used their numbers to their advantage and attempted to overwhelm her, but Athanasia was quick to improvise and seek out the weaker of the fighters first.

By the end, Athanasia was out of breath and bloodied (some hers, some splatters from the assassins and operatives) and bruised. There was even a burn or two from the ectoplasmic guns the GIW wielded. The two swords of the League members from the hallway were impaled through two of the scientists that had been standing over her twin.

Dányál – Danny. Currently in his Phantom form. He was strapped, locked in, on a sleek medical table and a mechanical mask over the bottom half of his face. A y-shaped wound on his torso was only partly stitched, and there was an IV of unknown substance stuck into one arm. His expression was scrunched up in pain, white hair matted with sweat and eyes squeezed shut and jaw visibly clenched even through the mask.

Athanasia pushed aside the part of her of that wanted to be sick, and rushed to his side. She carefully pulled out the IV first, locking the tube so no more liquid would get out. Then, she went to the mask.

Danny flinched back.

She halted her movements.

“Dányál,” Athanasia spoke shakily, and corrected to, “Danny,” when his expression twisted even more. “Akhi, it’s me. I have come to help you get out of here,” she said with forced steadiness in her tone.

His eyes cracked open, the usual icy blue currently a Lazarus green. There was no recognition in them. Only confusion.

She knew that would be the case, but it still hurt.

She held up her hands to show that she meant no harm. Hopefully the blood splattered on them wouldn’t cause him to freak. And to her relief, he didn’t. He slumped a little, as much as he could with already laying on the table, and she began to work on removing the mask. After flipping a few latches, it came undone with a hiss and she tossed it to the floor.

Danny gasped, jaw dropping open. He went to speak, only for his voice to get caught in his throat and cause a coughing fit.

“I think it will be best if you don’t speak,” Athanasia murmured, and moved to unlock him from the table.

The coughing subsided, then turned into groans and hisses of pain.

“My name is Athanasia,” she introduced herself. “I am here with your friends – ‘Team Phantom’ as they call themselves.” The cuffs released him, but he still had GIW issued bracelets of sorts on his wrists. It affected his abilities, if the fact that he wasn’t healing fast was any indication. The others explained he had a super fast healing ability, and right now it seemed to be nonexistent. “We are here to get you out. No matter what.”

Danny groaned. “Still… Still hurts.” His voice was rough and hoarse.

Athanasia didn’t know what to say to that. So, she smoothed back sweaty bangs from his forehead, something she knew Mother did the few times she was allowed to comfort them when no one was around, and looked around the room. A table of medical supplies were nearby. Ignoring the scalpel, she grabbed a roll of gauze and bandages. (As well as an empty vial, which she filled up with the stuff that was in the IV.)

Carefully, she helped Danny sit up.

He hissed in pain again. It shifted into a whine.

“Sorry,” she said sincerely. “This will may hurt some more. Prepare yourself.”

“Hurts,” he mumbled. “The blood…”

“There is a lot of it,” she muttered. “On both of us.”

Athanasia wrapped the gauze around his torso as quick as she could, hoping it was tight enough to stall most of the bleeding but also loose enough that it wouldn’t unravel. When she finished, she allowed him to lean against her.

She soon noticed the lack of speaking in her ear. With a slight frown, she touched the comm, and was instantly met with Team Phantom talking over each other. She must have turned hers off without realizing while fighting.

“He’s here, and alive,” Athanasia spoke. “What the hell are you guys yelling about?”

All at once, they quieted. Then—

“Oh, thank the Ancients!” Foley exclaimed. “Don’t go offline like that again!”

“…I’ll think about it,” Athanasia said, vaguely confused. Why were they so worried? She handled everything just fine. “But it’s time to get out of here.” She paused as she helped Danny off of the table, only for him to nearly collapse. She cursed, ducking to place his arm over her shoulders to hold him up that way. “…And maybe someone should come down and help me. Danny will not be walking on his own anytime today.”

+++

Leaving the hidden headquarters of the Ghost Investigation Ward was not as easy as infiltrating it. (Although, it was easier than those months of searching for it – it was hell, never knowing if they would ever track the new location down). One of the assassins who guarded the outside of the medical room Danny had been in, was able to find just enough life in themself to send an alert out about intruders.

The two basement floors quickly became a point of interest for GIW operatives and LoA members alike.

Athanasia fought like hell, though her moves were limited. Keeping them away from her twin brother and fighting at the same time was tough. He was practically limp against her side, and from his feet movements, she knew he was trying to move on his own, but – body weakened and powers snuffed out because of the GIW cuffs – he was unable to do much of anything.

She made it to the first floor of the basement eventually, injured more than she’d like to admit. Her hair was falling out of the high pony she had put it in, the ecto guns gave her burns, there were new cuts and what may be more accurately described as gashes, and a few new bruises as well. Danny unfortunately got hit once or twice in the crosshairs.

That led her now.

Athanasia al Ghul didn’t let herself be cornered often. But to keep her twin safe? She’d do it a thousand times more. Danny, on his feet, was slumped against the wall behind her. She stood directly in front him, guns with the knives drawn and aimed at the group of enemies. She was not letting them touch Danny again.

Before anyone had a chance to act, the elevator door dinged open. Everything paused. Tucker Foley stepped forward just enough to stop the doors from closing.

Everyone stared.

He waved. “Hi.”

Red Huntress and Sam Manson jumped from a lone vent grate from the ceiling, using the confusion Foley caused to their advantage. From there, it was back to fighting.

When she suggested someone to come help her, this was not what she had in mind, necessarily. She wasn’t complaining, though.

Red Huntress judo flipped an assassin into an operative. They went down like bricks into a third person.

“Go!” Manson shouted. “We’ve got this, A– Shrike! Get him out of here!”

Athanasia hesitated, but listened. As much as she was wary of them handling themselves against the League and wanted to help, she wanted to get Danny out of there more.

Lifting him up bridal style after putting her guns away, she muttered an apology when the movement tugged on his injuries, and then ran for the elevator Foley held open. As she got closer, he ducked in and spammed the close button. She slid in right as it began to close, kicking Foley to one side of the elevator as she pressed herself to another.

Three ninja stars struck the wall they were just in front of.

The doors shut.

They stared at them in silence as Foley pressed the ‘1’ button.

“How did you…?”

“They can be predictable sometimes,” she admitted.

Foley ‘huh’ed. “Well… Thanks.”

Once the elevator stopped and opened, they were back to running. Foley used his Fenton Works weapons he had to take out whoever tried to attack them.

“Main entrance, Wesley!” Athanasia shouted into the comms.

“But that’s the most obvious one?” he questioned, though she heard the vehicle start in the background.

“It’s the closest one– hey! Watch the face, man!” Foley shot at an assassin who tried to hit him with shurikens. They went down immediately with a pained groan.

Just then, a large green blast burst through the hallway’s floor. Athanasia stopped, boots squeaking against the floor, and Foley’s halt was more of a stumble than anything. Before they could question what was happening, Red Huntress flew up on her board with Manson balanced behind her, the girls back to back. Red Huntress shot her large ecto-gun back down the hole.

“How you like that, assholes?!”

Manson fiddled with what looked like tiny rockets on her wrist. “Let’s go, let’s go!” She shot one down the hall behind Athanasia and Foley, right at another group of operatives.

Foley backed up, then ran and leaped over the hole, bolting to the main doors of the headquarters. Athanasia did the same, stumbling a little on the landing, but she recovered quickly, and mumbled another apology when the jostling caused Danny more pain. Red Huntress and Manson followed on the former’s hover board.

As they got closer to the doors, a line of League members convened in front of them. None of them stopped running as Red Huntress shot at them, and then again at the door.

“Setting the timer on the bombs,” Manson told them just as they got outside. “Twenty seconds.”

“Wes, where–”

Tires skidding on pavement interrupted Foley. A black van came to an abrupt stop ten feet away, and the back door opened. “Right here!” he yelled from the driver’s seat.

Foley helped her get Danny in the van first, carefully placing him on the second row. They then piled in with the door shutting behind them, and Wesley peeled off, the other two girls zooming in the air to follow.

The bombs went off.

The previously hidden GIW headquarters went up in flames.

“Any followers?” asked Athanasia. She opened the sun roof, and moved to the front seat as Foley maneuvered the backs of the second row to fold backwards.

Manson dropped onto the roof of the van, and then into the vehicle itself. “Not that I saw,” she said.

“Hm.”

“I’m going to make the van invisible just in case, though.”

“For how long?” Wesley asked.

“As long as I can.”

Foley spoke up from where he now sat, with Danny’s head cushioned in his lap, “Don’t overdo it, Sam. You’re still new to magic.”

“No promises.” Manson got situated in the third row of seats. “I’m not letting those fruitloops find us, Tucker.”

Red Huntress then came into the van, board disappearing as she did so. “I think the explosion will be keeping them busy for a while.” She slipped off her helmet, eyes falling to Danny while she sat at his feet. “How is he?”

Foley shook his head. “In bad shape.”

Athanasia frowned, and from a pocket pulled out the vial of the stuff from the IV. “This was in an IV they were giving him. I have no clue what it is, but I believe it was harming him.”

He took the vial with a frown.

“We need to get him someplace safe,” Valerie Gray said. “Or… You guys do. That is, if the plan is still for Wes and I to go back to Amity Park and Ellie.”

Foley nodded. “Yeah, it is. Get to Amity Park, and tell Ellie to find Jazz – she’s been out of the loop for too long.”

Gray winced. “Oh, she’s gonna pissed.”

“I know where we can take him,” Athanasia told them. She reached to the built in GPS to start inputting the address. “He will be safe there, and they will help us keep him safe.”

“Are you sure?” Foley asked.

“Absolutely.”

If not, then Jason Todd lied about Bruce Wayne being a good man.

Once the address was put in, she pulled out her communicator – the one that was part of a matching set. She debated on whether a written message or a voice call would be better…

Gray leaned between the two front seats. “That address is in Gotham, New Jersey.” She looked at Athanasia incredulously. “How the hell is that safer?”

“Because I’m taking him to our father.”

#dp x dc fic #dpxdc #dp x dc au #dc x dp #dcxdp #dc x dp fic #dc x dp crossover #dc x dp fanfiction #dc x dp au #why are there So Many tags for this part of the fandom #dc #danny phantom #stay with me my blood #batpham #dp x dc #my writing

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